Still not so busy posting here, because these days I’m busy at Wates where I work as a BIM manager. I am part of the core BIM team, but unlike the other team members, a satellite sent to Birmingham to be the local BIMmer mainly working on the project Secure College Leicester. The client is MoJ and here is more info about the project from GOV.UK.

So what is he really doing up there in Birmingham? (was tempted to write BIMmingham)

First of all federating the consultants IFC models in Solibri Model Checker. Stage 1, orientation and alignment, was a bigger challenge than expected but finally a success. I intend to write a post about this process, why it was a challenge and more importantly how we solved it. Something about the multiple coordinate points and settings in Revit and consultants speaking more Revit than BIM. To begin with they were reluctant to understand this strange strangers strange ideas about origin cubes and other helpful little tips. But they listened and we are happy.

Then there is all the model checking (at this stage mainly clash detection) and reporting of checking issues. We are still early in this process and are currently testing and defining the best methods and tools for this. So far we have decided to issue reports of Checking Issues both as Excel and BCF (BIM Collaboration Format) and separate the resolved and closed issues from the collaboration report, but keep them to track the process and have them as backup for disputes that unfortunately could emerge.

There are Summary Reports showing how many components and issues the models have and whether the components have failed or passed the checking, that is defined by rules in rulesets, and also shows the severity of the issues detected. This is not as dull as it sounds. It actually is cool to know what you check the models for and how the models are performing. And when summarized in handy executive reports showing the performance and progress the bosses will also believe that BIM is worth the investment.

Besides that I am writing BIM collaboration Guidance Notes and Reporting Tools for Stage 1, assisting with a bit of the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) getting familiar with PAS 1192-2 and COBie. And also trying to get my head around the extensive use of acronyms in the UK and maybe especially in this sector? I started a spreadsheet with the ones I came across in the first few weeks of working in the UK. At entry 52 I stopped and thought “somebody already did this” – and here it is: BIM Acronyms by Rob Jackson. Thank you Rob! I should study this some more and test myself when I have a WFH day.

All of this is just the beginning.

TBC…

…And on top of this the process of relocating to the UK is more difficult than excepted? Life is easy in Denmark. I am now a fan of the Danish CPR number.

Not so busy posting here, because these days I’m busy at JUUL | FROST Arkitekter where I work as architect and BIM manager on the project Örebro Handelshögskola.
We have a good team at JFA working in partnering with our Swedish friends from Örebro. It is really exciting to have this position where I can both help influence the design with my architect colleagues and manage the BIM model in close collaboration with the partners involved in this project.
It has been a bit challenging becoming familiar with the Swedish standards and classification rules. Learning more every day and getting pretty familiar with BSAB.
We use ArchiCAD for the architectural design and Solibri Model Checker to coordinate our and the other consultants models from various platforms. Good stuff. IFC rocks. More on that later.

Gottlieb Paludan put the project Statoil BSC on their website. I really think it’s good work we did as a team and I hope to see it built. It’s a building for all the people working there. Blue-collar and white-collar workers alike.

I was a project architect with responsibility for the “Multi House” with conference center, auditorium, cafeteria, production kitchen, welfare area, reception etc. From schematic design to construction documentation in collaboration with clients, engineers, project leaders, consultants, authorities and suppliers. Most of us worked in Revit BIM models, some with Autocad and we used Revit and Navisworks for clash detection and Docia for project management. Some times I missed ArchiCAD as I did not produce as fast as I normally would, but I learned a new popular tool. And that’s great! It leaves the question of freedom of choise of tool and open collaboration. But that’s another discussion I will get to later.

Today I’m off to Riga. First time in Riga and first time attending ACSA. Looking forward to meet a lot of other nice people interested in BIM, ArchiCAD and related stuff. Maybe I will see you there? I know I will meet a good bunch that also attended AC Winter Schools in Austria and Summer Schools in Nottingtham.

I will get new contacts. Maybe new partners, friends or even a new employer. I’m ready for new challenges with an exciting AEC practice. Almost anywhere in the World.

I will see Riga and taste the black Balzams!

I will learn even more about ArchiCAD and other cool tools. AC 16 looks great. Can’t wait to play with the new tools.

First I will apologise to visitors of this website. You have to deal with a mix of english and danish. DANGLISH. Pretty soon that is the past. I have installed the WordPress translator plugin Transposh.

It allows automated Google (and other) translation of 66 languages. Luckily Danish is one of them. The automated translation can be edited on the website itself. That saves me a lot of effort in my aim to have a bilingual website.

Until I am done editing there will still be some of the very odd and funny Google translations. Enjoy!

My next task is to design some more “architectural” flags and replace them in the WP editor.

SBamaa is now using Podio for some projects. The test runs are promising. I think the app will help project administration and free time for productivity. I like that you can add apps when you need them and not start with a large confusing interface. It’s also cool that it’s developed by Danes. Good work Podio people.

When I talk about it, most people seem to (or politely pretend to) understand why I work with BIM and also get an idea of what it is. Most people who are not in the business do not really care. But those who like the blues might be interested in this praise of BIM. It will never be a number 1 hit. But the choir girls are pretty cute. And a bouncing building at 2:54!?